Event

Anathem: an evening with Neal Stephenson

Neal Stephenson's long-awaited book Anathem will be released to the public on Tuesday September 9, 02008, in the Gothic splendor of the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco. Join us on this evening to hear the author read from his new work and converse with Stewart Brand and Danny Hillis of Long Now. We'll also have a special musical performance of math-based chanting created for Anathem by composer David Stutz. The book signing, reception and all around celebration will follow (we'll have a cash bar too). Additional copies of the book will also be for sale at the event by The Booksmith, but we can only guarantee that pre-ordered books will be signed.

Anathem, germinated in 01999 when Danny Hillis asked Stephenson and several other contributors to sketch out their ideas of what Long Now's 10,000 Year Clock might look like. Stephenson tossed off a quick sketch and promptly forgot about it. Five years later however, when he was between projects, the idea came back to him, and he began to explore the possibility of building a novel around it - Anathem is the result.

"It is a great story, set in an alternative reality where people take long-term thinking seriously." -Danny Hillis

Long Now's 10,000-year Clock inspired Neal Stephenson's new story, Anathem, and now Anathem is inspiring the Long Now. In ten centuries, no one will be sure which came first. - Kevin Kelly